ZapperZ's and Philaduckia's Blog on everything Disney. We are Disney Vacation Club members, Walt Disney World Annual Passholders, and Disney Pin collector. All of them make for a very lethal combination! :)

Monday, April 18, 2016

Over the weekend, a picture was posted to Twitter of a newly redesigned
Mickey and Minnie. They’re undeniably Mickey and Minnie, yeah, but their
faces are different. Their mouse skin tone is a little bit darker, their eyes are closer together, and a little bit more oval-y.
The smile on their faces is also a little bit more defined, with big
pinchable-cheeks, and Minnie has lost her blue eye shadow. The tweet
declares that this is their “new look.”

Of course, as the article stated, this might mean a universal change in all Mickey and Minnie throughout the Disney empire.

While picture of these mice in question comes from Shanghai, it can be
assumed that these will be the new-look for the characters you can meet
in the park. Buuuuuttttt, if these characters debut in Shanghai, that means that soon ALL the Disney Parks ALL around the world — including Disneyland and Walt Disney World
— are going to get these newly redesigned faces, too. Disney follows
strict “character integrity” rules, so if an alteration is made to one
character in Disney World, it has to be done to that same character all
around the world — you know, because there’s only ONE Mickey Mouse
(wink wink wink nudge wink, that’s what small children are told,
obviously, but you as an adult know the real Disney Truth).

We'll see if this is another iteration in the long history of the look of the legendary Mickey Mouse and the other Disney characters.

Fans of the ride may be disheartened to learn that the bar won’t be
called the Tip Top Club—a nod to the ride’s famous and frightening
storyline—and it won’t be located on the 13th floor of the hotel. The
venue will be located near the ride’s exit, just across from the area
where you pick up your spooky souvenir photo.

I haven't seen any confirmation yet on this, and when it will open. So stay tuned.

Monday, April 04, 2016

It looks like it will be less attractive to buy DVC units not from Disney anymore. Disney is finally removing all DVC perks for members who bought via the resale market.

Starting today, "members who do not purchase an ownership interest
directly from Disney Vacation Development Inc. will not have access to
Membership Extras," the company says on its website.

The change only applies to new owners starting today. Current owners are grandfathered in.

The only drawback to this is that current DVC owners will not be able to draw higher prices if they wish to sell their DVC ownerships. It makes it less attractive to buy DVC points with anyone else other than Disney.

In a development that blindsided many people, including me, COO Tom Staggs will be stepping down from the COO position at Disney on May 6, and will leave Disney completely by September.

A source said Staggs, 55, made the decision to leave after pressing for a
formal commitment from the Disney board about his future ascent to the
throne. When that didn’t come, the executive came to the decision that
he did not want to wait another two years and that it was time to move
on.

This is definitely a shocker, since Staggs was highly regarded as the apparent successor to Bob Iger when Iger steps down at CEO in 2018.